Oh, Brother
by Purple Rhapsody
Summary: When David's experiment goes horribly wrong, Sarah finds herself being transported through the galaxy and into…other Christian Bale movies? My, what a shock to the system!
1. Jack

**Well, I had no idea where this little idea came from! I was going to do a Christian Bale crossover with just his characters together, but then I decided to add Sarah in it, and it just...evolved. And since I figured that most of the people in this fandom have seen more than one Christian Bale movie, why not combine them? Plus, I love SuperGenius!David. So, here's the introductory chapter...**

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It was a normal day in my life; there wasn't any particular reason to get up in the morning as usual. Well, of course there was Jack—but that goes without being said. It was about a year after the infamous strike, and my days consisted of sewing and sitting. Sounds boring, I know, but that's because it is. After all the pent-up excitement and thrill of beating Pulitzer, what was left for any of us to do? 

David, apparently, had a lot on his plate. Papa's arm was healed properly, so he had to "suffer through school" as he dramatically put it. He's given up his day job and pushed it to the weekends only, much to his dismay. But he had promised our father, so he now he had all of these obligations for school stacked high.

Like today, for instance. He was holed up in his room while I was sitting in my favorite chair, making yet another doily. Any peace I might have had was constantly being overthrown by this incredibly loud noise that I assumed that David was making. It sounded like a saw or some strange other tool—which was odd, because there is usually just quiet around here. Not exactly being one to frequent lumberyards, I couldn't tell you what kind of tool it was. But it was earsplitting and really starting to irritate me.

I placed the doily on the nearest table and got up to check what he was doing that seemed to be more important than keeping my hearing perfect. I banged on his closed door; there was no answer. Trying the lock I realized that it was open, so I decided to just go in there.

No sooner had I twisted the handle and opened it an inch than it was thrown back closed again. I heard a muffled yell from the other side of the door, but I couldn't understand what David was saying over the din.

"What?" I screamed, glad that we were the only ones in the apartment so I wouldn't be reprimanded for shouting.

"APGASRLHNEN!" was all I made out, and I take it that that was NOT a word that Dave had learned in school and I just didn't know.

"Could you repeat that?" I screeched through the wood. _Just turn the stupid thing off so you can hear me yell at you to turn it off!_ My wish was answered as the noise abruptly stopped and the door was thrust open.

"What could you possibly want at a time like this?" David asked me, filled with anger at the interruption. A pair of goggles was strapped to his face; complementing the chunks of metal I saw lying in his room. Now that was abnormal.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that you should be proud for successfully damaging everyone's hearing in the whole complex," I said dryly. Wow, I was possible at being sarcastic. Pretty good for my first time…

"It's a science experiment," he replied hotly. "Sorry to interrupt your doily-making, but some of us actually have things to accomplish.

"Can I see what you're doing?" I asked in compromise, wanting to know the cause of the hullabaloo. I had a right to, after all. I didn't know why, but I was sure given the correct period of time and the right situation that I could scrounge up a decent excuse. Fortunately he didn't demand one; he just shot down that idea right away.

"No, it's not done yet." He started to shut the door but I stopped it with my foot. Ouch—that hurt.

"Please?" I wheedled, bored out of my mind. Being a good and cooperative girl was dull.

"Perhaps you missed my emphatic 'no'," he said, pushing my foot away and almost succeeding in closing the door when all of a sudden…

There was a knock on the door. The unexpected noise caught us both so off-guard that we instantly stopped what we were doing and ran for the door. Please be Jack, please be Jack, please be Jack!

I got there first and turned the handle (David didn't seem to be having much luck with doors today), only to come face to face with a cowboy hat.

Okay, so there was a person wearing the cowboy hat. Someone named Jack Kelly! Of course, if we had to get technical about it, we would call him Francis, but Jack was how I met him and Jack he shall remain.

"Jack," I breathed happily, "hello."

"Hey, Sarah, hey Davey," he said, giving me a smile that made me melt into a puddle of Jack-y gooey goo…

Metaphorically, of course. Because we all know that people can't melt. Unless you're The Wicked Witch. But I think that that was only a one-time thing.

"Hi," I uttered dreamily.

"You said that already," David pointed out, shaking his head and taking a seat on the couch. Jack and I followed suit; I took the chair, and he took the couch with David.

"Anyway," Jack started, changing the subject before it became embarrassing for both of us, "What was that obnoxious noise that I heard from about two blocks away?"

"That would be David's new project," I answered in a tone suggesting that I was none too thrilled about it—which I clearly wasn't.

"Invention, Sarah, _invention_," he corrected.

"Sorry," I replied, not at all sorry.

"Ooh, an invention? Can I see?" Jack asked.

"No, he won't let anyone see—" but I was interrupted by David's answer of,

"Sure, Jack." Excuse me? 'Sure, Jack'? He could see and I couldn't? David must have seen the shocked look on my face, because he quickly gave me his excuse.

"Well…you're a girl." Brilliant deduction, really Dave—I'm proud to call you my brother.

"So?" I prodded.

"So, inventions are more of a guy thing." Like Jack would understand that came out of David's mouth when he slipped into Smart Mode any more than I would.

"You should let Sarah see it, Dave," he said, smiling in my direction again. Sigh.

"Fine," grumbled my eldest brother as he led us into his room. We came face to face with a huge contraption that looked like one of the machines you see at factories, except smaller.

"What is it?" Jack asked dumbly. I was right behind him; there was no indication from its appearance as to tell what on Earth it could be.

"It's not done yet, and I know it doesn't look like much, but it's a…" (And here he paused for suspense) "…time machine!"

"A what?" I was the first to ask after his little outburst.

"Well, I didn't know what to call it, so I just called it a time machine. I was having a discussion with Denton the other day about the New York Sun, and he was showing me the list of most popular stories that they've published or something along those lines; I wasn't really paying attention. But then he showed me this one short story; it was the title that sparked my interest. The Clock That Went Backward. So I started reading it and it gave me the idea—wouldn't it be exciting to travel through time? So because I didn't have any enchanted clocks or an Aunt Gertrude, I decided to try and make a time machine instead."

There was a long period of silence after that little speech before Jack spoke up.

"Oh." Well said, sweetie.

"Yeah, I thought it would be interesting," David continued. "All I had to do was connect the electromagnetic—"

"Spare me the details," Jack stopped him, raising a hand as if to prevent the flow of scientific words from flying out of David's mouth.

"Okay," David uttered sheepishly, turning back to the machine.

"What does that do?" I asked, noticing a purple button on the side and pointing at it.

"Oh, that starts it," my brother informed me. Interesting…

Jack leaned on a thinner, taller part of it. He probably decided to stay there seeing as how David wasn't protesting. It looked kind of comfortable, actually.

"And what about this little area here?" I asked, pointing to a tile-covered section of the floor connected to the outer edge of the machine.

"Well, if you stand there and press the button, something should happen. I'm just not sure it's traveling through time yet." Hmm, if I stood there…

I was inching over to the tile space, Jack still leaning on the piece of metal. I guess David noticed what I was doing, because he started to ask, but I gave him no time to. I wanted to time travel! It sounded fun and harmless, right? So I quickly stood and positioned my weight on the center of the medley of tiles, simultaneously hitting the purple button.

But the funniest thing happened then: the little button fell off. I caught it just in time, and suddenly I felt myself being hurled upwards.

The last thing I saw before I was flying through the air was Jack's astonished expression as a light was being focused on his entire body. I wondered what it was for, but I had no time to contemplate as I stopped moving and found myself in a small house with four girls all sitting around a fireplace.

Oh brother. Something tells me this wasn't supposed to happen.

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**I was doing some research about time travel and David wasn't making his little speech up; The Clock That Went Backward was really a short story by Edward Page Mitchell that was published in the New York Sun in 1881. It was supposedly the origin of the time travel concept--thank you Wikipedia. And although I did read the story, I'm sorry if I accidentally got some facts wrong. And if some parts were confusing.**

**Each chapter should be another CB movie, as far as I know so far. My planning always changes lol.**


	2. Laurie

**Well, here's the second chapter! I just wanted to point out that although Sarah is not my favorite character, I do not have anything against her. It's not her fault that she was a pushover; part of it was the script, too. If she had wittier lines or something maybe it wouldn't have been too bad. ****And the last chapter was about a year after the strike, so she had a whole year to change. I realize that she might seem a little out of character, but this is supposed to be a humorous story.**

**And thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter! **

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I sat on the couch that I had landed on, fingering the purple button—the stupid purple button that brought me here. This most certainly was NOT time travel; the time period didn't look much different. It wasn't futuristic and brimming with contraptions unknown to anyone until 100 years, it was just…a house. 

The girls hadn't noticed me yet, which was strange because I apparently appeared silently. I took a moment to observe them before I would surely be thrown out for trespassing. All four were brunettes except for one who looked to be the youngest in comparison. There was a tall girl with her nose in a book, a pretty one working on a doily not unlike mine, a girl playing with three little kittens, and the blonde was sketching. All four were so absorbed in their tasks that they didn't even see me.

I take that back. The blonde, in an effort to pick up her fallen pencil, noticed someone foreign on the couch. Took her long enough. She then let out an earsplitting shriek that I compared to David's stupid mechanical sounds; it was that loud.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" she demanded. I noticed that two other girls had also shrieked, but the one that was reading was just giving me a curious look.

"Um. I, uh." What could I say? I flew in from a contraption that was supposed to make me travel through time but it didn't seem to work for no apparent reason? I didn't even want to think about how I was going to get home.

"Are you a friend of Laurie's?" asked the bookworm, breaking the silence.

"Well. Yeah, I guess," I replied, taking any excuse I could. Whoever Laurie was.

"Oh," said the blonde one almost knowingly, giving me a funny look. I'm not sure why…

"Hear that, Jo? She's a _friend of Laurie's_." The bookworm who I took to be Jo shook her head and replied,

"Don't be silly, Amy. She doesn't fancy him, I can tell." Well, so she thought that I was dating this Laurie person. I figured it wouldn't be the right time to assure her that I was madly in love with Jack Kelly, so I let it slide.

"You're right, I'm attached," I interjected. Okay, so I had to say something about Jack _per say_.

"Ooh, really?" asked the young blonde again. "What's he like?"

I found it unbelievably strange that they thought I had just waltzed in here and plunked on the couch and they're not making a big deal about it. If I had been as absorbed and I looked up to find a strange girl you can bet I would have thrown her out immediately.

Well, Papa would have thrown her out immediately. But at least she'd be out. These must be really friendly and hospitable people. I decided I could trust them—or at least initiate conversation with them until I figured out how to get back—and tell them about Jack.

"His name is Jack. He's about six feet tall with dirty blonde hair that he keeps kind of long, and he has these hazel-brown eyes…" I have to stop before I tell them his blood type or something.

"Really? So that's why you must be attracted to Laurie and not Mr. Brooke, right?" asked the doily girl, who in return got a solid _thwop_ on the arm from Jo.

"She's not attracted to Laurie you ninny-pinny, she said that already. Although that description does match him," Jo informed me matter-of-factly. So I travel to wherever this is and get another Jack? Amazing.

"So, do you think I can meet him and see for myself?" As soon as those words came out of my mouth I regretted it instantly. I had blown my cover!

"Meet who, Laurie? You said that you knew him already!" Jo exclaimed. How was I going to get out of this one? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"I do know him! I uh, meant, um, I meant…" Being in the spotlight is not my strong point.

"I meant that Mr. Brooke guy that Meg was talking about a few seconds ago," I covered nervously, hoping they'd accept it.

"You haven't met Laurie's tutor yet?" Meg asked, apparently astounded. Should I have?

"Well. No; he's been, um, busy," I lied. They seemed to all nod in agreement, except for the girl that had stopped playing with her cats and was now staring at me, paralyzed with fear in her seat. I wonder why. I wasn't ugly, or anything.

"Hey, what's your name anyway?" the blonde asked boisterously. What's YOUR name, so I can stop referring to you as "the blonde"? I probably should have introduced myself in the first place anyway, huh…

"Oh, sorry, I'm Sarah Jacobs." I debated giving an alias, but then I remembered that I would hopefully never see these people again and I might as well stick to a name that I could recall.

I learned that the four girls were Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and that they were all the March sisters. The timid-looking one was Beth.

"Beth, why don't you play Sarah a welcome song on the piano?" requested Jo. I've always wanted to learn how to play piano. Too bad our apartment was too small to fit one.

_IS too small, _I mentally corrected myself. It hasn't become 'was' quite yet. But then I got to wondering…what exactly was a "welcome song"? I've never heard of a song that went "Welcome, welcome!"

But my question was answered as I heard the first strains of a familiar scherzo. The room fell silent as Beth played the one-minute song, and the sisters burst into exuberant applause. I clapped politely.

"That was very pretty," I told Beth as she was walking back to her seat on a chair, and she blushed furiously and didn't answer. I took it as thanks.

"So, are you attracted to Laurie or not?" asked Meg, breaking the silence, which was followed by a loud groan from Jo.

"How many times have we gone over this? She said that she wasn't, and that she was clearly attached," Jo cried out, exasperated. She wasn't the only one.

"No, I'm not. He's pleasant to the eyes, of course," (and here I was relying on their comparisons to Jack), "but he could never be Jack." I must have said the wrong thing because Jo, who was on my side not a minute ago, distanced herself from me in her seat as if she was offended.

"What do you mean by that?" she inquired suspiciously. "Laurie is a wonderful person. He's like a brother to us, you should know that!" Whoa. So she thought I insulted him? Well, I'm sorry, but no one can be as great as Jack is.

"Of course he's great, but my man's greater," I replied defiantly, partly because I was a.) Defending Jack and b.) I was bored and I wanted to ruffle people's feathers. Unfortunately for me, the feathers I was ruffling were Jo's.

"Excuse me? No one could be as wonderful as my Laurie!" Okay, is it me or am I sensing a kind of mother-hen relationship with Jo and Laurie here?

"Why are you so persistent, do YOU like him?" I was dying to know.

But I should have realized that she would never own up to it, even though it was clearly written on her face. Too enraged to answer (temper much?) Amy answered for her.

"Laurie is an inacredible boy!" she said, sticking her flat nose up at me. Perhaps she meant 'incredible'?

"Hey, you don't see me denying it!" I responded, sticking my own nose up as well. After all, what's the point of having a nose if you can't stick it up to people when they do the same to you?

But then I realized that it probably might not be a good idea to mess with them, because they were Laurie's closest friends and apparently I was too. So it might get me on his good side when I spoke with him (whenever the time came) and help him to lie with me if the Marches accepted me. After all, I could be stuck here for forever for all I know, and I certainly don't want four angry girls breathing down my neck every six seconds just because I slighted their precious friend out of pure boredom. Determined to make things right, I took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry! I sounded so selfish, didn't I?" I started with a crack in my voice, preparing my crying act just in case. "It's just that…you've known Laurie for so long, and I not nearly as long, and I felt inferior and insulted him to make myself look better! In turn, I made myself look worse, and completely berated you! Will you ever accept me in your lives as a friend again?" I saved the waterworks and tried the lip tremble, and sure enough, my performance elicited a groan of sympathy from Meg.

"Oh, it was us who was selfish, dear, we're so spoiled and ignorant having just Laurie around! Please forgive us!" she half-sobbed, getting up and pulling me into a hug. Amy joined soon after, and then followed shyly by Beth. Jo was the last; she stood in the corner crossing her arms in defiance, until a second later she relented with a forced "I'm sorry too," and joined the group hug too. That was too easy.

Well, now that that was settled, we could move on. After little prodding from Jo, Beth began plunking away prettily at the piano.

"Now who do I owe the pleasure of that beautiful music?" I heard a booming voice enter through the front door. As a male figure entered the living room, I froze.

It was Jack. Well, it was Jack but it wasn't. He had the same face, and body, and everything—except this boy looked much cleaner and richer.

Ah, this must be Laurie! Hmm, maybe he was a relative of Jack's?

"Laurie, your friend stopped by to see us; did you send her?" inquired Amy. Laurie looked around confused and then spotted me.

"My…? Oh, yes, I did send…?" He must have gotten the message from my furtive eye and hand motions that I wanted him to play along. And now he figured it would be good if he knew my name.

"Sarah, silly! Stop pretending you don't know me!" I replied, laughing as if he was off his rocker. Actually, it was I who was off the rocker.

"Oh, you got me!" he said, just as joking a tone, but a more underlying serious that only I—knowing the true reason for the serious—could sense.

"Sarah, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a second?" he asked playfully, and I shrugged and went right back with an, "Okay, Laurie" and followed him to the kitchen.

"Who are you?" he asked forcefully. "You haven't hurt any of them, have you?" Oh, of course, because I look SO intimidating.

That much must have shown on my face because he waved his hand with a curt "Never mind." He took a deep breath, not quite sure to handle the situation. Well, he wasn't the only one.

"Okay, well I don't know who you are or what your business is here, but I would appreciate it if you would leave as soon as possible," he started.

"I would be all too happy to obey your requests…Laurie, but I'm not sure how to get home." Telling the truth was probably the easiest thing to do in this case.

"Why, do you need directions? I could give you some. And my grandfather could loan you a carriage, it wouldn't be a problem—" But I interrupted him.

"No, that's okay. Just a quick question…what state are we in?"

He seemed shocked that I didn't know where I was, let alone the state, and I couldn't blame him. I just figured that this wasn't New York, and I wanted to know how far away I was going to have to walk to get back home and scream at David. Sure, it was my fault that I was here, but technically it was his fault that the machine hadn't done what it was supposed to do. Okay, so technically it was my fault, but who was I to pinpoint such a trivial little detail?

I was drifted out of my little reverie by the firm response "Massachusetts."

"I'm sorry, what?" Oh, right, I had asked what state he was in; so he just wasn't randomly spurting out state names…

"Massachusetts," he repeated, exasperated. Although my geography was terrible, I did vaguely remember that Massachusetts was north of here. I think.

"Great, thanks," I replied. "But before I go, can I ask another question?" He sighed and reluctantly nodded. I guess he didn't want to be bothered by this strange girl anymore. I probably wouldn't either if I were he and he were I in reversed situations.

"Do you have any relations named Sullivan? Particularly a Francis Sullivan?" Hey, you knew it was coming. I couldn't not ask that burning question.

"Well, I'd have to check with my grandfather to be sure, but my parents did not have any relations named Sullivan as far as I know," he answered. Oh, so it must be a one-time fluke that he looks identical to Jack, then. Not a problem. It was a pleasure to meet another Jack, actually. A pleasure that was all mine.

"Are you sure?" How marvelous would that be to go back to Jack and tell him the whereabouts of one of his relatives that looked extremely close to his age?

"YES! I mean, yes, I am quite positive." I could sense him at the end of his fuse, and I didn't want to prod anymore lest he turn violent. Judging by his nature I didn't think he would, but one can never be too sure. After all, look at Morris and Oscar. Well, sure, they looked violent, and they WERE violent, so maybe my theory wasn't perfect after all.

You know what? Never mind.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now," I told him, noticing how a wave of relief washed over his face.

"Goodbye," he said, pointing to the door that was not two feet away. Hey, I can figure out where the door is, thankyouverymuch.

"Hmph," I responded, making my way to the door. But the strangest thing happened—as soon as I opened it, I didn't see a plentiful garden as I expected in such a quaint house. No, I saw a big gush of wind. Suddenly, I was falling like I was last time. I really should get insurance or something; this could turn out terribly.

But before I had time to contemplate my well being, I found myself landing in a building that looking like a club. I mean, it definitely wasn't like Medda's vaudeville show at all. There was blasting music and people dancing strangely.

This most certainly isn't home. _Well, here we go again_, I thought, and dived unsurely into the crowd.

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**All right all you Christian Bale fans, which movie is she going to be in next? ;)**


	3. Thomas

It was a weird kind of music; I'd never heard it before. But then again, I've not exactly gotten around the music world, so my opinion really means nothing at the moment. 

Then it hit me. The reason why I'd never heard this music before is because it was futuristic music—it probably wouldn't be around until I was much, much older. That certainly gives me an advantage, doesn't it?

And it wasn't just the music that was odd; it was the dancing style as well. It was so…vulgar. Let's just say that if Mother had caught me doing even ONE of those moves, I'd be punished for a month at least. But it did look kind of fun.

As I was absorbing my surroundings—I realized something. I wasn't wearing the same outfit as I had been before! My clothes must change so I wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. I was certainly glad, because I would have been terribly out of place in my frock, but this dress was an odd change. It was so…swishy. I gave a little spin and watched in delight as my skirt flew around me in a delicate circle.

Well, I was delighted until I bumped into someone.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—" I didn't get to finish my apology, because I found myself looking at Jack.

AGAIN. It wasn't him; that much was clear. Laurie hadn't been him, either. Which brings up the question…what year exactly was this? This boy seemed bruised, all black and blue, but that was a familiar experience with Jack as leader and all. I wasn't about to actually ASK this Jack what happened to his face.

I guess he caught me staring at him, because he waved his hand in front of my head as if to wake me up from my trance.

"Do I know you?" I began. I figured that would be a good leeway into interrogation. A confused look spread across his boyish features.

"Um. Not that I know of…?" I've seemed to puzzle a lot of people, haven't I?

"Are you related to a Francis Sullivan? Grandfather, perhaps?" Okay, I'm not sure that grandfather would be the relation Jack would be to this boy, but I was going out on a limb here. Needless to say, he shook his head.

"No, sorry, my grandfather's name was Thomas Berger. I was named after him." Thomas—I liked that name. Extending my hand, I said politely,

"Hi, Thomas. I'm Sarah." He nodded in acknowledgement but didn't let go of my hand; instead, a sparkle appeared in his eyes.

Before I knew it, I was pulled into the center of the large room—what I assumed to be the dance floor—and Thomas started to move, dragging me with him.

Okay, so the moving was really dancing. Which got me panicked. I don't dance. I've only danced a couple times with Jack at Medda's, and even that was brief and not orchestrated. I gaped in horror as the boy in the couple next to me swung the girl in the air, catching her safely. Was I expected to do that? Oh, no, not gonna happen…

That much must have appeared on my face, because Thomas stopped.

"What's the problem?" he asked. The problem? The problem is you were planning to throw me into the air and not catch me, and if I break my neck how am I supposed to go back and scream at David!

"Well. This is going to sound stupid because you have all of this…experience, but the truth is, I've never danced before. Well, like this." He gave me a look of amazement.

"So what, you just stopped in here to watch other people dance?" he asked incredulously. If only I knew why I was here exactly. I wondered how I was going to explain this without making a complete idiot out of myself.

"Uh…yeah," I said lamely, taking his excuse.

"Well that's not good!" he exclaimed. "I'll teach you."

Um. What?

"Pardon me?" There were a lot more things that I wanted to say instead of "Pardon me?", but that was all that came out.

"I said I'll teach you," he repeated.

"I heard you. It's just—well…" I really didn't have a viable excuse other than I was terrified.

"Come on!" he yelled over the loud music. "Do what I do!" He continued to demonstrate a bountiful amount of dance moves, to say the least. Oh great. How am I supposed to do that?

Well, I gave it my best, but in the end I just looked like those flapping ducks in Central Park. Even Thomas couldn't stop from wincing. Heck, I didn't blame him.

"Um." I think he was wondering how he could put my down nicely. I was too, actually. "Why don't I have my friend Peter come over here and teach you?" Did he mean actually associate with someone who does not look like my beloved? Unheard of!

Well, not so much if he can actually teach me how to dance properly. He left for a brief second to find that Peter guy, and in the meantime I decided to take advantage of my anonymity. I tapped some random guy on the shoulder lightly. Ooh, he was cute! He was certainly no Jack, but not a Snyder either. He stopped dancing and gave me a polite "what?" look.

"Hi, I know that you don't know me, and this question is really stupid, but where are we? In relation to the U.S., I mean?" The handsome lad raised his eyebrow (questioning my sanity, I presume), but nonetheless answered,

"Germany." Oh, right. Europe, huh? I've always wanted to go to Europe, and here I am! Pretty good deal, if you ask me.

"Thank you," I responded. I didn't want to look like a complete freak and ask the year. Not knowing the country I could understand if you were kidnapped and dropped accidentally in a city or something, but not knowing the year is pretty stupid—unless you were in jail or the Refuge. Yet even then if for some reason I lost track, it would be one of the first things I would ask when I got out. You know, after "Where's Jack?" of course.

But then I felt a tap on MY shoulder, and looked around to see Thomas—alone.

"Where's your friend?" I asked.

"I thought he was over there but I guess not…" Suddenly his face lit up and maneuvered around me and went up to the boy that I had asked about the country. Thomas pulled him in my direction.

"Peter, this is Sarah. She doesn't dance, and I thought that we could change that." Wait. So this Peter guy is the one who I'd embarrassed myself with that stupid question?

"Ah, Miss Germany would like to swing?" he replied, obviously amused. I resent that. But what did he mean by 'swing'?

"'Swing'?" I inquired. Peter laughed.

"You're really not from around here, are you?" Gee, you think?

"No, where I come from, dancing is more…toned down," I admitted sheepishly, embarrassed to be acting so stupid in front of these handsome young men.

"Oh, I see. Conservative, eh?" Thomas replied, winking at me. Trying not to faint, I nodded my head.

"Watch her," Peter instructed, pointing at a girl in a green dress. The floor had been completely cleared for her and her partner, and she was undoubtedly…moving. I wish I could swing dance! It could start a whole new trend at Medda's. I laughed, picturing Racetrack throwing some unsuspecting girl through the air.

"Wow," I uttered incredulously, seriously amazed at how well she danced. Both Thomas and Peter nodded, but I noticed Peter looked distracted. I followed his gaze to a blonde girl all the way across the room. Young love—how charming.

"So, ready to dance you hepcat, you?" asked Thomas jokingly. Okay, hepcat must be some slang word that I didn't know about…I hoped it wasn't bad.

"Well, actually Thomas, I—" Peter cut himself off by coughing pointedly and nodding his head in the direction of that blonde girl. Oh, how sweet. He should go dance with her.

Apparently he thought so, too. As soon as they reached each other they met in the center and started…well, swinging. I watched in amazement how effortless they pulled it off. It's not easy; believe me, I've tried once already.

Everybody stopped doing their own thing and congregated in a circle around the pair, watching them and cheering them on. I guess my dancing lessons were abandoned, but I wasted no time in tapping my feet and haphazardly whistling to the catchy beat. I stood next to Thomas, who must really support his friend considering the amount of screaming he was doing on his behalf.

"Go Peter!" he cried. I refrained from yelling anything; it might look a little odd screaming his name considering that I only met him about five seconds ago. Well, a little more than that. But you get the gist.

Wow, this rhythm was really infectious. I just couldn't stop tapping my foot and swaying a little. I was enjoying this place way more than I enjoyed the Marches'. Being in a crowd watching people have the time of their lives—it really does something to you.

But then I heard yelling coming from the back of the room.

"Quiet! Quiet! Stop!" I looked over to see all of these uniformed men entering through the door. I wonder what they were doing here? This place isn't…illegal or something, is it? Why else would they be yelling 'stop'? Huh, maybe it was just some futuristic tradition that I sadly didn't understand…I really hoped that I didn't have to go through this again in the future, though.

I had no time to ask Thomas why the officers were here, however, because I immediately felt myself being pulled by the crowd—the same crowd that I had loved being a part of just a minute before. It wasn't a good pull, either; it was more of a something-tells-me-to-get-out-of-here pull. I, for one, wanted to get out of here. Suddenly all the fun of this new experience lost its thrill as I saw the officers dive into the horde of people, grabbing innocent bystanders and twisting them in an effort to get them to cease dancing. Why did they just let them abuse them? Couldn't they fight back?

Apparently not, I gathered as the whole room erupted into screams and shrieks.

"We are closing this club! We are closing this club! You must leave immediately!" a man with a tube thingy that vibrated throughout the room yelled. But I was just having fun! I hadn't even learned how to swing yet! Now I wanted to be thrown in the air and caught by this Jack look-alike!

_Too bad_, a voice in my head reprimanded. _From the looks of it, it's definitely too late for that sort of thing_.

But I didn't stop to contemplate further as I felt Thomas grab my hand protectively. Oh, how sweet. Or maybe his hand was just cold…

"You must give your names at the door! Leave immediately!" the annoying voice rang out again. Leave my name at the door? I wondered what that was for. I certainly didn't want to leave my name and possibly get in trouble; but perhaps I could give a fake name. After all, it's not like I know anyone here. And it's not like I had anything to lose by giving my real name—I'm not exactly from this time period. I decided that I would just leave some chicken scratch that no one could decipher and run out of here.

Yet even after that, where would I go? I didn't exactly know my way around Germany. Hopefully Thomas would help me find something.

I snapped my fingers as I remembered the purple button. I reached into my pocket and sighed in relief to find it still there. At least I'll have a backup plan, however lame placing your faith in a button is.

It was then that the room really went crazy. The men in uniform quickly grabbed the nearest people and positively pushed them to the nearest door as they tried to get them out of there. Boy, was it working. The room was thinning out fast, and Thomas started pulling me towards the exit.

"Listen," he began. "You have to get out of here. Trust me—don't stay. As soon as you get out there, run to a safe place. Okay?"

"Aren't you coming?" I asked. Being by myself in a strange place was NOT my first choice. At home I always had Jack or David or Les or one of the newsies. What did I have here?

My pathetic purple button, that's what I had.

"No, Peter's still in there, I have to get back. You can't come with me." Well, why couldn't I?

He must have sensed my attitude, for he sighed and added,

"Trust me," he repeated Unfair. I was sent here mysteriously and met another Jack and now I had to leave them because stupid, ugly officers said to. One word—unfair.

"Fine," I grumbled, quickly evacuating the building as I watched Thomas's back disappear through the large throng of people. I ran down the stairs and pushed a door to find myself in an alley alone. Great. I noticed a bright sign that read "Trichter Café". Remembering what Thomas had said about running, I power-walked (I don't run) down the street at a fast pace. I got to the corner and sighed, wishing I knew which way to pick. Right, left, right, left. Hmm.

I was interrupted by a screaming voice, however. It was a man's voice, but it wasn't Thomas or Peter. It was a thick, heavily accented one. Turning as I heard his calls of "You, wait!" I saw that he couldn't have been much older than I was.

But he was an officer. Now something told me that that wasn't a good thing.

"Hey, so you think you can escape through the back door, huh?" he asked, looking as if he was ready to strike me. Okay, button, any day now…

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to play innocent, partly because I really WAS innocent.

"Oh, so it's that way, is it?" he responded, glaring at me. "What's your name?"

"Sarah Jacobs!" I yelled without thinking. I didn't know what harm it would do until I saw his face turn even stonier than it was before.

"'Jacobs'?" he asked, the tone of his voicing rising considerably as he uttered my surname.

I didn't have a moment to run or ponder as to why my last name was such a big deal, because he grabbed my arm and twisted it, causing me to let out a squeal of intense pain. This was not the fun part of random traveling, not at all.

I saw him take out a wooden weapon that reminded me of Spot's cane, and I winced as he raised it over my head.

Okay Mr. Purple Button, I would REALLY love your help right now!

My wish was answered as I felt myself being torn away from the evil man and being swept away as I had been twice already. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then I took another cleansing breath to calm my frazzled nerves. Of course, as soon as I relaxed I was being thrown into another alley, alone once more.

I looked up in fear to see a dark, pitch-black figure looming over me, and that was the last thing I saw before I screamed and blacked out.


	4. Bruce

"I found her in an alley."

"An alley? They sure are popping up in unusual places these days."

"She's not hurt. It's probably just exhaustion."

"Or she saw you and blacked out in fear."

"Well, that means I'm doing my job, doesn't it?"

I could barely make out these voices—they sounded so far away. I should probably open my eyes now. Here I go…1, 2, 3. Okay, trying again. 1, 2, 3. Nope, not working.

I decided to let out a little moan so that they would at least know that I was awake. Whoever "they" were.

"Glosketpeskivem," I muttered groggily. Way to sound intelligent!

"I think she's awake now."

"Gee, Alfred, what tipped you off?"

"Ha ha, Master Wayne."

"Where am I?" I tried. Yes, coherent words this time! Opening my eyes a crack, I saw a white-haired man, and another Jack look-alike. Why does the latter not surprise me.

"Gotham," 'Jack' responded. Huh. Good to know. Sitting up, I found myself on a bed in a strange room. Judging by the darkness and smell of the room, I figured that it was a guy's.

"Bruce Wayne," introduced the young man, holding out his hand. I took it and shook it, replying,

"Sarah Jacobs." This time there was no officer to club me over the head for my statement. I took the older man to be Alfred, remembering the conversation the two just had, also assuming that he was a butler by his attire.

"So, Sarah, what brings you to Gotham?" Bruce asked. Time to have some fun…

"A purple button," I replied in all seriousness, because—well, I was serious. Alfred let out a little laugh.

"Oh, I see," replied Bruce, clearly disbelieving. He turned to Alfred, thinking I wasn't looking and made little circles around his head, signaling that he thought I was crazy. Hey, I wasn't crazy; I was just in the wrong time period. There is a distinct difference.

"I saw that!" I said, sticking out my tongue. In case it wasn't that obvious, I'll point out that I am in a very foul mood at the moment.

It was then that I realized I was no longer in my old dress, nor was I in my swishy dress. I was wearing—get this—_pants_. My parents would be _appalled_. I was appalled just feeling them there! And it wasn't like they were light cotton pants or whatever; these were of a thicker material, sort of bluish in color. For my top I was wearing a shirt that read "Marilyn" on it, and there was a face on it! A face on my shirt! Can you believe that? It was of some blonde girl. And don't get me started on my shoes. They were open toe and open heel! That is _so_ improper. But I did realize that my purple button was hanging on a chain around my neck. That's good—at least I would have a lesser chance of losing it, something I did not want to do.

"Listen, Sarah…what did you see exactly before you blacked out?" Bruce asked.

"Well, I saw a big black figure, and I could kind of make out the face…actually, it kind of looked like you a little bit…" Now that I realized it, I wondered why it took me this long. It was the SAME EXACT JAW, and the same formation of the lips. I would know those lips anywhere.

"Oh my goodness, it was you in that get-up!" I exclaimed, yelping in delight at figuring it out. Bruce immediately shushed me.

"Look, I've never seen you around here which leads me to believe that you're not from around here, so it would be best if you could just keep this a secret, okay?"

"Keep what a secret? That you go around in big black costumes? I mean, it's not like everyone goes traipsing around in weird outfits everyday. I've certainly never heard of anyone doing such things." Bruce raised his eyebrow.

"You've never heard of Batman?" What man?

"Um. No," I answered honestly. "What's this…bat-man?" Bruce looked at Alfred and chuckled. Would they just stop looking at each other like I wasn't there? I'm right here!

"Batman is the reigning superhero of Gotham," Alfred responded.

"A what-hero? Do you mean like Greek mythology or something?" David was always fascinated by Greek mythology, and it's hard not to recall certain aspects of it when one is confronted with it every day for three months or however long his phase lasted.

"No, just a superhero." When I still looked at Bruce with a blank stare he sighed, clearly exasperated.

"Do you not know what a superhero is?" Do you think if I knew what a superhero was that I would be in this position? No! That much must have shown on my face, because Alfred immediately chimed in with,

"A superhero is someone who uses powers to fight evil."

"Although I consider myself more of a 'local helper' than a superhero. I don't have superpowers I just have super equipment," Bruce interjected, causing both men to laugh. I don't know why—that wasn't in the least funny.

"So a police officer would be a superhero? They usually fight for evil. Hopefully, at least."

"No, Sarah. Never mind," Bruce stated calmly, giving up the fight. I, for one, wanted this fight to be given up so I could move on with my life. Or to the next Jack, as the pattern was clearly showing. "How long are you going to be in this area?" he asked.

"With any luck, I'll be home as soon as possible. I do not planning on sticking around long, nor do I plan on returning," I informed the two guys.

"Should we tell her?" I heard Bruce whisper to Alfred.

"I don't know, Master Wayne, only few know," he replied. "Wouldn't want to give it away unnecessarily. Then the whole town would know, and you wouldn't exactly be the most popular man."

Know what? That he goes around wearing a costume and calls himself Batman, doing good deeds to the townspeople? I'm only inferring what their definition of 'superhero' is here. Of course he can't _just_ be a hero; he has to be a _super_ one. Isn't that just like all guys?

"Why do you not want people to know that you're Batman?" I inquired. I was immediately met by hushes and 'shh's' from both. Bruce placed his hand over my mouth for emphasis. I don't know why; it's not like there were dozens of people around here.

"How did you know that I was Batman?" asked Bruce incredulously, removing his hand.

"Geez, you just said it! First you asked me what I saw, and I said I saw you, and then you asked if I knew of Batman, so it's only natural that you are Batman." He practically spelled it out for me, anyway.

"You cannot tell anyone about this! Only few people know, and it should be kept that way." Bruce took my arm and started walking to what I assumed to be downstairs, with Alfred in tow.

"Who else knows? Anyone important?" Not like I would know these people, but it would give me a good estimate of what new league I'm in here.

"Well, you know, a cop, Rachel, Alfred here—" Hold up there, cowboy. (Ha. Cowboy.)

"Rachel? Hmm, sister maybe?" Who was this Rachel person? This could prove to be very interesting…it certainly was more fun than going back to face David's wrath, so I figured that stalling was probably the best option at this point.

"No, Rachel is my, erm, friend." This caused Alfred to release a snort of laughter. Bruce glared daggers at him.

"What, it's not like the young lady actually believed that, did you?" queried the butler. "Miss Dawes would be well able to show Sarah around the DA's office if she pleases."

"Oh come on, somehow I doubt that this random girl that I found would hardly want to be associating with other random people that she just happened to meet." I don't think that he had time to finish what he had meant, because there was a loud noise coming from outside. Which was odd, because this is obviously a mansion, and hearing anything sounding like a siren (which it did) must be pretty loud for the sound to get in here.

"I'm just looking to get home," I said honestly. I did want to get home; I mean, this was all fun, but meeting different Jacks wasn't nearly as fun as having _my_ Jack. Meet the downside of stalling.

But I didn't get to say any more, because before I knew it Bruce had run off. Okay, can we say bad manners much?

"Where's he going?" I asked Alfred. The man shrugged, and replied,

"He's probably doing his duties." Could he be any more specific? I heaved a giant sigh, and ran after him. He was just opening a secret compartment in what looked to be the back of his living room. Neat! I wasted no time in following him.

Unfortunately, that's where he had the problem.

"What are you doing here?" He didn't look too happy about me following him. Well, he's just going to have to get over that.

"Where are you going?" I answered, question for a question.

"None of your business. Look, you're obviously fine and there's no need for you to be hanging around here, so have Alfred show you to the door, okay?" Oh, he's not getting rid of me this quickly. If I have to hang around here then I at least have to be doing something exciting. Here--boring. Going with Bruce--exciting.

"I'll come with you!" I suggested. But he just laughed in my face.

"No." And before I could bellow out excuses at him, he shut the door! Can you believe that?

Okay, how do I get the door open? I saw him playing something on the piano before I got here. That's no good, seeing as even if I did know how to play piano I still wouldn't know the right notes to pluck to open the stupid door. Great.

Ignoring Alfred who tried to offer me a drink or something, I ran out the front door and briskly walked up the lane until I reached where it turned into another part of the road. I was met by a loud vroom vroom-ing noise. I looked behind me in shock to find a humongous black—thing. It looked sort of like a car, but way bigger. The only reason I thought it was a car was because of the four wheels. Other than that, it didn't resemble anything that I've ever seen before. Which wasn't a surprise, considering that I wasn't in the right time period. Maybe this was the norm?

I looked in astonishment as the top popped up. It just sort of…activated itself. Whoa.

"Sarah?" Oh, it was Bruce in that thing, wearing the creepy black costume. His voice had changed; it was all low and raspy now. I kind of liked it that way, actually…

"I don't have time for this sort of thing. I have to go somewhere!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" I whined. Yes, not the most mature road to take, but I was desperate. I have found that my mission was to stick close to the Jacks, and by George—Jack—I will!

Swearing under his breath (bad Bruce!), I heard him reluctantly add,

"Hop in." Yay! I was doing something exciting. Now how did I go about entering the vehicle with without looking awkward? If I flipped too violently then something weird might happen to my pants, and who knows what this strange and unusual shirt will do…

"Quickly," he added through gritted teeth, prompting me just to fling myself in. Ouch, there was definitely going to be a bruise there later…

As soon as the 'door' was shut, we took off—at a very high speed. Oh goodness, oh goodness, perhaps this wasn't the best idea I could have had. I bet the town was just zooming on by outside. I winced as he accelerated to follow the sound of the siren. While I was in this predicament, I took a moment to observe my surroundings.

And let's just say that David would have been in heaven. It was a science geek's dream. I haven't seen anything like it to compare it to, but that isn't surprising. There were all these flashing light thingies, and multitudes of buttons. But none, I noticed satisfactorily, were as pretty as my purple one.

I was interrupted by the cease of motion. Bruce had pulled a handle and we were no longer traveling; I also heard the silence of the siren.

"Stay here and don't move if you know what's good for you," Bruce instructed in his deliciously low voice, and I could do nothing but nod. I watched as he exited the vehicle, taking special notice of how he got the top open. I had no intention of leaving.

Well, okay, so I kind of got bored. Wouldn't you? When Bruce didn't come back soon, I began to get incredibly antsy. And if that wasn't bad enough, my foot fell asleep. Darn it! Deciding what I wanted to do, I opened the door and stumbled out.

The sight that greeted me was not exactly my kind of a scene. I saw cars with moving lights and the word "police" written across them—complemented by the uniformed officers carrying guns. But if that wasn't bad enough, I saw Bruce in the middle of all of it, fighting with some guy. The guy was clearly in a tiffy, and it was clearly Bruce who was aggravating him. He kind of reminded me of Spot on the days that Jack got the better of him. You know, small and bitter looking.

Finally Bruce looked up and saw me standing there, and screamed at me.

"Get back in the car!" he said, obviously annoyed at my lack of following instructions.

"But—" I started, but he interrupted me. Why can I never finish a sentence around him?

"Go!" he screamed. I wondered why; it's not like I was in the way all the way over here on the sidelines. But before I could ponder any more, I immediately felt someone grab my arm and yank me in front of everyone. It was the shrivel-ly Spot-like guy!

"Let me go free of charge or she dies," he growled in Bruce's general direction, and before I knew what was happening I felt something cold against my temple. No, it was not an ice cube; it was the feel of steel. A gun. What did I do to deserve this? Seriously.

"Look, if you just put it down we can—" It was clear Bruce wanted to make a deal, but this maniac was in no mood for a deal.

"No!" the uncompromising man replied, tightening his grip on my arm violently. I really didn't appreciate being in this situation. I found myself wishing desperately for David and my doilies and my room and my comfy chair…

All of a sudden, I felt myself detach myself from his grasp by no help of my own. I sighed in relief when I realized that it was the purple button at work again. I watched the dank colors of what I took to be Gotham swirl and merge into yet another strong wind.

I thought in anticipation of where it would carry me, hoping that it would be anywhere but this—but not including home. As much as I wanted them to be, I had a feeling that my adventures weren't quite over yet.

* * *

**So very very very very very sorry for the lack of updates! I had hardly any free time at all in the past few months, but I didn't quite forget this story. I also have an inbox full of updated chapters that I will review when I have some down time, so I'm sorry if yours is one of them. I will slowly but surely get to them!**

**I know it was a little rusty, but I hope you liked the chapter!**


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